Door-check



UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J OIIN JACOB KROM, OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA.

DOOR-CHECK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,681, dated December 3, 1 889. 7

Application filed July 6, 1889. Serial No. 316,700. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN J ACOB KROM, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of St. Augustine, in the county of St. J ohns, and

State of Florida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Checks;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in 10 the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

This invention relates to devices to check the motion of a door when opened to any extent, and thereby hold the door at any point desired in a reliable manner and in such a way as not to injure the carpet or scratch or mar a wooden or stone floor.

, The invention, therefore, consists of a spring-actuated slidingbolt having, when desired, means for increasing the frictional 0011- tact with the floor, and for protecting the floor from any abrasion due to the frictional contact and means for holding the said bolt in suspension out of contact with the floor is a view of. the device from the edge of the door to which it is attached, showing the baseplate and housing partly in longitudinal vertical central section to show the interior arrangement of operative parts, and showing the relative positions of the parts when held in suspension out of contact with the floor and ready for automatic action when the s'us-.

pension device" is released. Fig. 3 is a face view of the device, also attached to a door in its proper position, and showing the various I parts in the same relativepositions as those in which they are shown in Fig. 2, this figure further showing the parts therein shown.

tact with the floor and protecting the floor from abrasion. The base-plate may be of any construction so long as it is adapted to hold the requisite parts in the desired position. The construction, substantially as shown, however, is the preferred form, as it is the easiest and cheapest form as regards construction, and at the same time embodies all of the necessary elements. Asshown in the accompanying drawings, this base-plate" A is made of a form in flat profile that will be tasty, and has holes for the passage through said plate of the necessary screws for attachment to the door. Projectingfrom its face is the housing B, through the ends of which housing are bored or otherwise made holes for the passage or guidance of the slid ing bolt D. This housing is for the purpose, as will be at. once seen' on reference to the drawings, simply of casing or covering the spring and the rod D, and if desired may be dispensed with, and lugs maybe suppliedon 8c the face of the base-plate to carry the sliding bolt. Near the top of this base-plate is an aperture a. for the entry and engagement of the suspension-catch E, in a manner hereinafter described. Passing through the holes in'the lugs or in the housing, as'the case may be, is the sliding rod D, which has construction adapted to vertical motion within a limited range, and has at or near its top end the projection e, which is for the purpose of lift- 9c ing the said bolt, and is preferably of the form which would adapt it to be lifted by the toe of the shoe of the person operating it, as will be readily understood upon further de-' scription of this invention. This rod D is provided with a flat bearing on the base-plate A, to keep the said rod from any partially rotary movement, which. would disarrange the relative positions of the parts of the check. As shownin the accompanying draw: I00

ings, this flat bearing is obtained by lips or flanges d at or near the upper end of the said rod, said lips or flanges of course being made of any size which is found to be desirable. I do not confine myself, however, to this specific construction of bearing, as many ways equally desirable and efficient might be employed for the purpose without a departure from the spirit of this invention.

Arranged so as to give a downward pressure and movement to the bolt D is the spring 0, which in the construction shown surrounds the bolt and bears at one end 'on the end of the housing and at the other end on the pin 0, which passes through the said bolt at the desired point, and as the bolt has vertical play in the studs or housing it is obvious that this spring will act to force the bolt downwardly as soon as the suspension device is released, and that it will continue to press downwardly after the said boltshall have come in contact with the floor. The strength of this spring is of course governed by the amount of pressure which is required to hold the bolt pressed against the floor, which is in turn governed by the weight of the door and the required exertion of force to hold it in any place in which it is desired to check it.

The bolt D may be made of tubing, and the spring C be placed on the interior thereof, if desired. On the lower end of this bolt D is the elastic tip F, of rubber or other material suit-able for the purpose, which is to add friction to the contact of the said bolt with the floor and to prevent scratching or otherwise marring the floor or carpet placed thereon.

The elastic tip shown has an advantage over any other form of tip, inasmuch as it has resilience sidewise, and when the tip is in contact with the floor and the door is moved the action of the said tip is similar to that of a paint-brush in passing over the surface, as it falls back and is drawn over the surface of the floor, instead of being pushed or passed over the floor sidewise. This is of great advantage when the tip comes in contact with a carpet and is moved, as it does not injure the fabric of the carpet, as would be the case in a tip of any other construction. This tip is tapering-smaller as it leaves the point and approaches its point of connection with the bolt; but this construction may be varied, the object of the above-described construction being to obtain lateral elasticity, in order to make the elastic tip, when moved laterally stand at such an angle to the floor as to make such motion easy and to spring back to its place on the stopping of such movement. This tip may be secured to the said bolt by its own elasticity, or it may be secured thereto by means of any of the wellknown cements for that purpose.

Pivoted in any suitable manner to the up 'per end of the bolt D is the catch E, which may be of any form desired, so long as it has the projecting lip e for engagement with the lower edge of the slot or aperture in the baseplate, and has a suitable bearing for a spring 6, the function of which shall be to press the said catch in such a direction as will cause the lip to enter the aperture as soon as it shall be brought in juxtaposition therewith, and cause it to so remain, if desired, al though for ordinary purposes, owing to the very slight hook on the'said lip c, it will be sufiicient that the spring be sufficiently strong to be durable and to, as before stated, press the said lip into the aperture in the said plate. If desired, the upward motion of the said bolt may be limited in any approved manner, the manner shown in the drawings being by means of a small flat spot on the top end of the catch E near the lip e, which in its up ward movement comes in contact with the upper edge of the aperture and, owing to its being ata right angle to the line of motion, will not slip out and so stop upward motion of the bolt. This stoppage or limiting of the upward movement of the bolt is not necessary to the operation of the device, and I do not therefore confine myself to the use of any device for such purpose, nor to the limiting of such motion in any way except some manner which might be incidental to the operation of the necessary elements of the device.

It is preferable that all the parts of this device be constructed with a view of getting them all as close to the door to which the device is to be attached as possible, for the rea son that in such case the device will be less conspicuous than otherwise, while such closeness, within reasonable bounds, would in no way detract from the operation of the device The operation of this device is as follows: It will be supposed that the parts are in the relative positions shown in Figs. 2 and 3that is, that the bolt D is held in suspension, as hereinbefore set forth, by the engagement of the lip c and the lower edge of the aperture in the base-plate and that the bolt is held in readiness for automatic action on the releasing of the said engagement. This releasing is accomplished by merely touching the catch E with the foot on the extension 6" thereof, which will, against the action of the spring 6, withdraw the lip e,-wl1ich said lip, however, is held pressed against the baseplate after its withdrawal and the downward movement of the bolt in readiness to again enter the aperture in the plate when again brought into the proper position, which is done by placing the toe of the operators shoe under the projection e and by means of such contact raising the bolt to the desired height. If when held in a partly opened position it is desired to open the door farther or to close itslightly, it is only necessary to push the same in the desired direction, and the action of the elastic tip on the lower end of the bolt will be as heretofore described, and the movement may be made without injury to the carpet or floor.

Having thus described my invention, what and the spring e, for operating said catch E,

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let substantially as shown and described. I 0 ters Patent of the United States, is In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my In a door-check, the combination of the signature in presence of two witnesses.

5 base-plate A, carrying the casing B and JOHN JACOB KROM. notched at a, with the bolt D, bent at right Witnesses: angles at its upper end and carrying cat-ch E, l A. P. WOOD,

said bolt being provided with projections cl, H. A. KEPPEL. 

